First Day of School

First Day of the New School Year!

2013/2014

For those of you who know me via Facebook, you saw my post on the first day of school. Yeah, we'd rather not have another first day of school like that again. EVER.

Can I just say that maybe, just maybe, we weren't ready for school to start yet? Yes, we were more than ready for a consistent schedule again. Yes, all the back-to-school shopping had been done. Yes, outfits had been chosen, re-chosen, thrown out and then chosen again. Yes, we'd talked and prayed with each of the kids and each other for this new school year. Yes, everyone's stuff was placed neatly on the couch ready for the big day. Yes, I'd printed off my little First Day of School Signs so we could take our annual picture all lined up at the front door. We were the usual mix of excitement and nervousness yesterday morning. We were ready for the big first day of school and all the adventure that brings.

But, can I say I was not prepared for the level of exhaustion that has overtaken us all after a week at the County Fair. (We show animals and basically live there 6 days straight). I was not prepared for my ear infection to NOT be gone. This ear infection made it so that it was Luke and the kids at the Fair all week and me at home in bed trying my best to just keep my eyes shut so that I didn't puke all over the floor again. This ear infection that has made it impossible to even walk a straight line, let alone drive! I was not prepared for a tired 9 year old to drop a quart full of milk on the kitchen floor and that I would spend the next half hour before we were supposed to leave mopping up spilled milk and hundreds of tiny glass shards from the kitchen floor while the 4 year old wailed that he was too tired to eat breakfast. I was not prepared to not be able to help the 10 year old fix her hair for the first day of school because I was still on my hands and knees picking up glass shards and the tears that would bring. I was not prepared for the chain reaction that would set off with the 7 year old and the sobbing into his bowl of cereal that he hated school and saying he would never go and his begging to homeschool. I was not prepared to turn around when it was time to leave to discover the 4 year old had fallen back asleep on the couch and had taken back off his school clothes to put back on his pajamas and pull-up and was drooling on the couch cushions.

But, we made it out the front door. I tried to be upbeat and encouraging and telling the still sobbing 7 year old and now wailing 4 year old that they would love their teachers and make lots of new friends and it was going to be a great day! I never brought up the idea of a First Day of School Picture. Who wants a Facebook post with 2 sobbing kids in the photo holding up their First Day of School Sign? I eventually ended up turning on the radio to drown out their crying and concentrate on my driving since I still wasn't seeing straight.

Back to the ear infection: It has caused a nasty case of Vertigo. For those of you who do not know what that is (I didn't have a clue till it hit me), imagine yourself being on the craziest whirling Fair Ride or Roller Coaster you can think of, but never being allowed off. Yep, that's pretty much the sensation. I thought I was dying of some strange and nasty flu when it hit me last week. And it literally hit me. I was fine all day and then began to get this strange off-balance feel that within 2 hours had me squeezing my eyes shut and unable to walk without throwing up. Poor dear Luke had to carry me inside the house and I threw up all over his back and onto his feet. That is true love baby. When your other half still holds my hair up while I'm bent over his feet puking all over them after I'd just thrown up on the back of his neck and down his shirt. But he still held my hair and hands while I continued to spew all over him. He had to help me out to the car the next morning and my mom wheeled me into the Dr. Office and I was told there was nothing that could be done but rest and it would be better by the weekend. The lovely little shot that stopped the vomiting was a great relief. It has been over a week and I can at least walk a semi-straight line without holding onto someone for support but I was faced with the dilemma of getting all the kids to school yesterday.

Which brings me back to the first day of school. I made it with great fear and trembling and praising that it was still early enough for the traffic to not be it's normal out of control first day of school madness. I was so afraid of hitting another car or misjudging the depth perception (that's a huge issue right now) and crashing into the back of someone else. I slowed waaaay down before ever stopping and put a good 5-6 feet in front of anyone else stopped in front of me....just in case. I stopped the car at Nater Mater's Pre-School and told the other 3 to wait while I walked him inside. He was so cute. He has been at this same Preschool nearly every day for 2 years where we would drop off the little boys after school where their mom worked. He's been asking for 6 months when it would be his turn to get to go. Well, yesterday was the big day and was he ever ready. He walked right in, showed me his cubby, led me to the sign in sheet and then skipped over to the train set without looking back. I had to beg him to give me a goodbye hug!

Then I walked back out to the car with a huge sigh of relief and ready to take the others to their respective schools. Did I mention that all 4 kids are in separate schools this year? It's the way our District is split up. Two grades a building until you get to HS and you have to drive to ALL. OF. THEM. It means an hour in the morning dropping everyone off and an hour in the afternoon picking everyone up. I excitedly got back in the car and turned it on and....nothing happened. It was dead!! The car was dead! I still had 3 kids left to get to 3 different schools!

To make a story that has already gotten very long a little shorter, I called a sweet friend who also had a little boy in Good Lookin's school. She had called me the night before concerned that I was driving the kids to school and asking if she could help. I had assured her that Luke had put me behind the wheel that very night and after a bit of correction on the direction that I liked to veer the car rather warily said I could drive them the next morning to school. I told her I'd call her if I needed any help but not to worry. She sweetly came and rescued us all and we made it to all the other 3 schools with seconds to spare.

She then proceeded to take me to another Dr. appointment where I was again told that we'd just have to wait another week and if my balance wasn't better by then he'd refer me on to a Ear Nose and Throat specialist. He advised me to get help with the kids and be very careful with driving.

Thus began a flurry of phone calls to see who could help get the kids after school and then calling all the separate schools to inform them of what was happening and why none of the people on my pick-up lists were available to pick up my kids and why I was asking other people instead....on the First Day of School.

In the end, God was so gracious. I'm pretty sure that He killed the battery in our car yesterday morning. The more I rode around with my friend, the more disoriented and nauseated I became. I'm not sure I would have been able to get all the kids to school without either throwing up in my car or causing an accident or both. Then there was my friend who went out of her way yesterday to make sure that I was alright. I went back to her house and slept a good hour before tackling the task of how to get each child after school. She helped me figure out who was picking up each child where and who they would be brought to when. Everyone who helped out was kind and gracious. I honestly felt helpless and very humbled. It is not a position I like to be in but it was neat to see how the Body of Christ steps in when needed. Another couple friend of Luke's and mine came and jumped the car for me and let their house be the meeting place for all the other families to drop my kids off at their place. Then my friend followed me home to make sure that I could drive home alright and to help if needed. I honestly felt very blessed to have made it home safe and sound and all of us taken care of.
Luke's boss is letting him switch his schedule this week to a later start time. This way he can be the one to drive all the kids to school instead of me. And the same people who helped pick up all the kids yesterday are going to help the rest of this week so that I only have to drive into town and then back again to get everyone.

So, we are off to another School Year! Here's to more of that Adventure!